The Next Trio
by autumn midnights
Summary: Lily Luna Potter, Rose Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy are troublemakers without a care in the world. But when things start to go horribly wrong at Hogwarts, they decide to step in and investigate. What they find is nothing like what they expected.
1. Chapter 1

Minerva McGonagall sighed as she folded her last set of robes by magic and placed them into her trunk. She had been at the school for seventy-odd years, with twenty-five or so as Headmistress. It was sad to be leaving, but she knew it was for the best. Her health, never the greatest after the four Stunning Spells in '95, had deteriorated since the Battle of Hogwarts. It was time to retire, and live a nice quiet life until her death.

She knew she was leaving the school in capable hands. Penelope Clearwater, her successor, was a smart, capable woman who, during her time at Hogwarts, had been a Ravenclaw prefect. She had been Minerva's obvious choice. Minerva had already briefed Miss Clearwater on her duties earlier that day. All that was left to be done was announce it at the feast that night, and everything would be completely set.

She closed and locked the trunks with a simple wave of her wand. Goyle, the caretaker, would bring them down after the beginning-of-term feast, which she hoped went without hitch. Last year, Scorpius Malfoy, Rose Weasley, and Lily Luna Potter had somehow convinced over half the student body to start singing the Hogwarts song during the Sorting. That hadn't been easy to stop. Those three were troublemakers on an epic scale.

She turned her attention to her quarters. They had been stripped bare, since she was planning to leave right after the feast. She had already cleaned out her office earlier that day, in preparation for Miss Clearwater. She conceded that it was done and walked to the Great Hall, sitting at the teachers' table. Neville Longbottom, Head of Gryffindor, was gathering the first-years.

The Sorting ceremony commenced, and she took the time to look over the crowd. There were an abundance of Weasleys, spread out over three tables- only one person in the Weasley family had made it into Slytherin, and that was Lily, currently deep in conversation with Scorpius Malfoy. She looked away from them as the last first-year, 'Yeats, Melba,' was Sorted into Hufflepuff. She stood up. "Before the feast begins, let me make a few announcements. Our Care of Magical Creatures position will be filled by Luna Scamander." She gestured to the slender blonde at the end of the table. Polite applause- enthusiastic clapping in the case of the Weasleys- filled the room.

She waited for it to die down. "Teddy Lupin will be training alongside Professor Goldstein as an assistant in Defense Against the Dark Arts." A young man with blue-black hair stood up. The Weasleys went wild again as the rest of the students applauded more calmly. He sat down, and she resumed speaking. "Lastly, I will be replaced by Penelope Clearwater, who will be arriving later tonight." There was some halfhearted clapping, as the students did not appear to know whether they should applaud for someone who wasn't actually there.

Again, she waited for them to finish, and began speaking. "The usual warnings still apply. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to everyone, not just first-years, and wandering around after curfew is strictly against the rules as well. Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and Zonko's Joke Shop products are banned and will be confiscated if found. Performing magic in the corridors is not allowed." She paused for a moment. "Let the feast begin."

As everyone dug into the meal, Minerva began to feel sentimental. This was the last meal she would ever eat at Hogwarts. She ate slowly, wanting to savor these moments, moments that could never be replicated. After another short speech- wishing everyone well and instructing the prefects to show the first-years to the common rooms- the crowd of students dispersed. The teachers waited until every student was safely out of the Great Hall before going to their own rooms. Goyle had already brought Minerva's trunks to the front doors, and was waiting to carry them out.

He opened the door and held it as she walked out, leading the way. She was leaning heavily on her walking stick the whole time. He followed behind, lagging a little as he carried her two ample-sized trunks. They went to the edge of the grounds, stepping off Hogwarts soil for what would be the last time in her case. Goyle set the trunks down right next to her and loped off, back towards the school.

She turned around and stood there admiring it, in all its majestic glory, although the night sky darkened it somewhat. She ached to remain, although the sensible part of her mind told her to get over herself and move on, to her new home. The castle was in good hands under Penelope Clearwater. It- and the inhabitants- would survive without her. The threat of Voldemort was gone, the Death Eaters either dead or in Azkaban. Nothing would happen just because she had left. Nothing at all.

Satisfied at the thought, she grabbed her suitcases and Apparated away.

A/N: This will get better in the next chapters, and from now on it will completely focus on the Next-Gen characters. Please review, no flames.


	2. The Beginning Of It All, Chapter 2

Disclaimer: You know I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, but I don't.

"Can you believe that Teddy and Aunt Luna are here?" Lily Luna knew she sounded overly excited, but at that moment she didn't care. It was only Scorpius she was talking to, after all, and he had grown used to her occasional moments of hyperactivity. "I wish you were taking Care of Magical Creatures. Aunt Luna's awesome."

"I gathered that," said Scorpius dryly as they slowly walked around the lake, just talking. Rose had gone off to study- typical- and so they were alone. The students had already been back at Hogwarts a week, but somehow it felt longer, probably due to the amount of homework both the fourth- and sixth-years were already receiving. "Anyway, I don't have time. My schedule's already insane enough as it is."

Lily started to open her mouth to reply, but a first-year Ravenclaw cut her off. The first-year was clutching her side as if she had just run a long distance. "Rose…" She panted. "Wants…you…to…meet…her…in…the…library."

"All right then," Scorpius said. "Come on. Let's go, before Rose comes after us herself."

"She probably just wants to make us start on homework," Lily grumbled. Rose was the brains of the trio. Without her, the others wouldn't get half of their work done, it seemed at times when she went over their essays and corrected them. The only thing they had over her was practical things- both Lily and Scorpius were geniuses at figuring out how to actually perform spells, something Rose needed extra work with.

The pair headed to the library, attracting a stare from James, Lily's older brother, as they walked by. "Hey. Malfoy, where are you and my sister going?"

"To the library," Scorpius replied. "Put your wand away, Potter. There's nothing to be concerned about." Lily shared a look with him. James had been horrified that his little sister had gotten into Slytherin, and rather quickly as well, with barely twenty seconds spent under the Sorting Hat. He had been even more horrified when she became best friends with Scorpius Malfoy, and spent most of his time harassing them. He was in seventh year now, to Lily's happiness- one more year, and he would be gone.

"If I catch you doing anything-"

"Nothing to be afraid of," Lily said easily. "Rose called us by first-year. She's meeting us." The three were infamous for using younger students to communicate with one another. Most of the younger students were happy to oblige, being slightly afraid of what would happen if they didn't. "See you, James."

"See you around, Lils." He didn't even acknowledge Scorpius, which, after all these years, was no longer a surprise. At least he didn't hex the other boy when his back was turned, which was an improvement from earlier years, when both James and Scorpius had been in detention constantly for dueling in the corridors.

Rose was waiting for them in one of the back tables of the library, a couple of books spread out in front of her. She had obviously been doing her homework while she waited, although, of course, rarely a time came when she wasn't doing her homework. Or, (even worse in Lily's opinion) reading for fun. She looked up as they approached, and cleared her things to the side. "You'll never believe what I found out."

"What?" Both Lily and Scorpius leaned forward excitedly. Usually it was one of them who found out a big secret or little-known fact, due to their penchant for eavesdropping and mischief in general. Rose, on the other hand, was usually on the receiving end of interesting or important news.

"There was a girl who almost died today. The whole thing was horrible, you two," she added sternly, "so stop acting like this is big gossip."

"Well, it kind of is," Lily said. "Horrific gossip, yes, but gossip nonetheless. Now, tell us the details."

Rose muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Bloody Slytherin,' before continuing. "Anyway, you two know Sara Creevey? The Hufflepuff Chaser?" They nodded. Sara Creevey was a third-year who had joined the team the previous year, and to everyone's surprise was quite good considering her age. "Her broom had a curse on it, designed to throw its rider off. She fell, and would have died if it weren't for Madam Pomfrey. She was almost twenty feet in the air…good thing she wasn't higher. She had the sense to try to land when she noticed her broom was acting weird."

"A Hufflepuff with sense?" Scorpius dramatically fell off his chair. "I never thought I'd see that!" He got up, brushing his shirt off, and sat back down.

"Shut up." Lily smacked his arm. "Al's a Hufflepuff."

"And, he has no sense," Scorpius added, looking smug. "Did you, or did you not, tell me that your brother Al accidentally wandered into the Forbidden Forest? Accidentally? How the hell do you accidentally wander into a giant forest? It's pretty hard to miss!"

"Fine, so maybe Al has no sense, but-"

Rose sighed. "You two are completely missing the point here. Sara's broom was cursed. She's had it since the beginning of last year and it's been fine. That's not right."

"Probably just someone who doesn't like her." Scorpius shrugged. "Everyone's got enemies, right?"

"That's an incredibly advanced curse. I looked it up, and it's way past N.E.W.T. level. Not even all adults can do this. It certainly wouldn't be some student who doesn't like her."

"So you're saying a teacher did this?" Lily wrinkled her forehead. "That doesn't even make sense. Killing a student…wouldn't the death of a student cause Hogwarts to close?"

"Not necessarily. Probably, but not necessarily. And it's rather odd, isn't it, how this happened?"

"Huh?"

Rose sighed again. "The Hufflepuff Quidditch team and the Ravenclaw Quidditch team were having a small practice game on the pitch. Dozens of people were there. Wouldn't it be more sensible, if someone was going to murder someone else, to do it when nobody else was around?"

"Definitely." Scorpius nodded his assent. "Is she going to be alright, anyway? Sara Creevey?"

"Supposedly, although she's not going to be able to attend class for at least a week or two. She's hurt pretty badly- internal injuries and stuff that takes more than Skele-Gro to heal." All three shuddered, having heard horror stories about the taste of that stuff. "I'm going to pop in to see her at some point. I want to know more about this, because it certainly wasn't an accident. Professor Goldstein ascertained that much."

"So you're going to try and figure out who did this?" Lily looked skeptical. "Isn't that a bit dangerous? Trying to find a killer, or wannabe killer, anyway?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Have you not heard the things our parents did while in school? I'm pretty sure this person, whoever he or she is, is not as dangerous as Voldemort. Besides, there's three of us, and we have a talent for eavesdropping and finding out things that we're not supposed to know."

"No," Scorpius corrected. "Lily and I have the talent for mischief. You're the bookish one. You need our talent if you want to accomplish anything. Lily's got the Marauder's Map, since she stole it from James in second year-"

"First year," Lily interrupted, "And I got the Invisibility Cloak, too, from my dad's office, right before I left for school. You need those things to sneak around."

"Fine," Rose admitted. "I need the pair of you and your tendency to break every single rule, find out everyone's dirty secret, and sneak into places that students are most certainly not allowed to sneak into. Will you help me? Pretty please?"

"Fine," Lily and Scorpius said together. Firmly, they all shook hands.

"We got ourselves a mystery," Rose said.

A/N Please review, it would make me a happy writer.


	3. Chapter 3, Gathering Information

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the things mentioned here. Unfortunately.

"I don't see anything weird whatsoever." Lily leaned closer to the map, poring over it. "Every single person is in their dormitories, or at the least, in their common rooms. All the teachers are in their quarters as well. Everything is normal." She sighed. "It's been two hours. I need sleep." Her and Scorpius had stayed up late the previous night as well, looking over the Marauder's Map in the hope of seeing someone wandering around suspiciously, but to no avail. Nothing had happened since yesterday, when Rose had started them on this attempted-murder case.

"All right. You go to bed. I'll just stay up a bit longer. I need to revise my Potions essay, anyway." Scorpius groaned at the thought. Although their Potions teacher, Morag MacDougal, was fair, she had a habit of assigning a lot of work.

"The one that's due tomorrow?"

"The very same. Don't tell Rose, she finished it last week." He pulled out a long piece of parchment covered with notes, and a quill, and set them on the table. "See you, Lily."

"Bye." She slowly made her way up the stairs to the Slytherin fourth-year girls' dormitory. Her roommates, Daisy Zabini, Tori Nott, and Mina Francis, were already asleep, peacefully in their beds. She undressed and flopped into bed herself, the mystery of Sara Creevey still on her mind.

She hadn't known the girl that well. Not only was Sara a year younger, but also in Hufflepuff, and Lily didn't know many Hufflepuffs apart from those she was related to. She had seen her around, however, and she had always seemed pleasant enough, and nice to everybody. Lily had even seen her staying after classes to help clean up, since most of the practical lessons got messy. She couldn't imagine a girl like that having any dangerous enemies, especially ones who would actually want to kill her. Why, then, would she have been the victim of an attack?

She drifted off into a restless sleep, images pushing in and out of her mind. A broom jerking wildly. A body falling twenty feet to the ground. A girl, lying deathly still in a hospital wing bed. Sara Creevey, laughing and joking with a few friends. The pictures were all related to the same thing, and in her partially-dreaming state, she tried to make them form into something that would help them solve the mystery so that Rose would stop talking about it, but it didn't work.

"Did you see anything odd?" was the first question she asked Scorpius at breakfast.

"No. Some teachers patrolled a bit, but nobody met up with each other. Nothing suspicious at all." He sighed. "I'm not looking forward to telling Rose this. She had her heart set on solving this."

"We still could," Lily reassured him. Although part of her was still convinced it was risky and would lead to her being the next victim, another part of her also wanted to crack open the case. After all, her parents had such grand adventures while they were at school- finding the Sorcerer's Stone, the debacle of the Chamber of Secrets, competing in the Triwizard Tournament, forming Dumbledore's Army…the list went on and on. So far, what had Lily done? Played pranks, yes, and got more detention than anyone in her year, but that didn't exactly count. If they solved this, she would be known as 'one of the students who found the person who tried to murder Sara Creevey,' not 'Harry Potter's youngest kid'.

"Look, there's Rose now." Scorpius waved. "Hey."

"Did you two find anything?" Rose asked, sounding just like Lily had a couple of minutes before. Both Slytherins shook their head. "Damn it. It was a good idea to look at the Map, too. I'm going to visit Sara in the hospital wing today. You two should come. We're all trying to do this, not just me."

"We're the ones that stayed up until past midnight looking at that bloody map," Lily grumbled to Scorpius. Rose, still standing a couple of feet away, did not hear over the chattering of other students from all the House tables. Louder, she said, "Alright. I don't have detention yet, so I'm free right after classes."

"Lily Luna Potter doesn't have detention?" Tori Nott, sitting on Lily's other side, gasped. "I think that's a first. We've been here over a week and you haven't done a single thing yet."

Lily nodded. "It is a first. I need to do something before my reputation gets ruined." She cast in her mind for ideas. "I'll definitely have something before next week. This can't go any farther, me behaving. It's boring."

"I'll help," Scorpius said. "Rose, you in?"

"Mainly because you two need me as the 'bookish one' of the group, who actually has a bit of sense. Fine. I'll help with whatever devious plan you two have to get detention." She rolled her eyes. Rose wasn't as into the pranks as the other two, but went along mainly because they were her best friends and she didn't want to be left out. "But after we visit Sara. I want to see how she's doing," she added for the benefit of the people nearby. They had decided to keep it secret that they were trying to find the culprit, for the important reason that the adults would put a stop to it if they knew. While they could find their way around teachers with the help of the Cloak and the Map, it was easier if nobody expected them to do anything.

"Alright. That's a deal, then," Lily said. "We visit Sara Creevey, and then we plan a prank."

The day's classes seemed to drag by for Lily, even Care of Magical Creatures, which she enjoyed greatly because of Luna, who was one of her favorite people. Each hour seemed to last a day, as Lily was looking forward to both finding out details about Sara and planning the first prank of the year, which was always the most thrilling to plan. She wasn't paying full attention in her courses, which resulted in Professor Greengrass, the Charms teacher and Tori's mother, giving her extra practice on the Summoning Charm after she Banished the cushion instead.

Lily, Rose, and Scorpius met at the entrance to the Hospital wing. Madam Susan Bones, who now oversaw the hospital wing after Poppy Pomfrey's retirement four years prior, met them at the door. "Are you here to see Miss Creevey?"

"Yes," Rose said, stepping neatly in front of the other two. "We want to see how she's doing. We've been so busy and haven't had time, and we feel really bad." She put on her best sorrowful face. "Please let us see her. We won't be that long."

"You're lucky," Madam Bones replied. "She's awake, just woke up fifteen minutes ago, in fact. She's still eating a bit, but you should be fine. Go on in, but don't rile her up. You have twenty minutes."

The three quickly walked over to the last bed, where a small, fair-skinned girl with silvery-blonde hair lay. A small tray of food lay in front of her, and she was picking at it. She looked up as they approached. "Hi," she said quietly.

"I'm Rose," Rose said, "and that's Lily Luna and Scorpius. We were wondering…what happened? We heard that your broom had a curse placed on it, but nobody would tell us anything else." This was only a half-truth- they had heard several rumors, but most of them (like that Sara was 100 feet up, or that it had been someone on the opposite team) didn't make any sense and certainly were not true.

"It was fine at first," Sara said slowly, as if each word was hard to get out. "Then about halfway through the practice game, it started jerking me around. I was worried something was wrong with it, so I tried to land, but it was as if the broom had a mind of its own and wouldn't let me. I barely managed to get it down to…twenty, maybe twenty-five feet up before it finally threw me off because I couldn't hold on. Then I woke up here." She gave them a rueful smile. "I wish I could tell you more, but there really isn't anything else."

"That's still helpful," Rose, who had her thinking face on, said.

"Oh, and could you please not mention to any teachers what we asked you?" Lily added. "We're trying to find out who did this, but we know the teachers wouldn't let us. Or any adults, really," she said as an afterthought.

Sara nodded. "I suppose. But whoever it is seems dangerous."

"We know," Scorpius said. "We're going to be completely careful, and we have a few extra tools on our side. Hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks," Sara said.

Once the three left the hospital wing, calling goodbyes to Madam Bones so that she knew they had left, Lily turned to Rose. "Are we going to start on the prank now?"

"You two brainstorm ideas. I need to look something up in the library. I need to see if there is any way that the curse could have been set so that it didn't affect the broom for a while, or if the person had to have been at the practice match. Go on, we'll discuss the prank later. This is much more important." She dashed off, half-running.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to do this alone," Scorpius conceded. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe…" Lily grinned mischievously, and proceeded to tell Scorpius her plan.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Now please press the little Review button.


	4. Chapter 4, The Culprit Strikes Again

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling won't sell it to me.

Lily Luna Potter grinned, holding up the bag of Skiving Snackboxes from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, her uncle's store. There were at least thirty of the small sweets in the bag at the present time, but she knew she could easily get more if she so needed. "Here's the plan," she said to Rose and Scorpius. "I'll pass these out to the people in my class, and tell them to use them all during Charms."

"Why Charms?" Rose interrupted.

"Because Professor Greengrass wouldn't really know about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. She was in Slytherin while my parents were in school, so she would have only heard about them a little. She certainly wouldn't have known what Skiving Snackboxes are." Lily grinned smugly. "Anyway, I'll hit up the usual people, avoiding the wannabe prefects, and then I'll signal everyone during Charms."

"I'm doing it next week, though, right? In sixth-year Charms?" Scorpius looked slightly disappointed that he had to wait.

Lily nodded. "Exactly. I'll just have to Owl-Order some more. Uncle George knows how to disguise the wrapping so that it doesn't look like it came from his store. I'll give those to you, and then you can do it."

"So I don't have to do anything?" Rose looked slightly happy at the thought of not getting detention for at least a couple of weeks. They always spread their practical jokes out, so that there would be at least two or three weeks of 'rest' between each one. This was also to work off whatever detention they received for the previous joke.

"No," Scorpius said. "I'm passing them out this time. But you have to take one, since you are in my class. Not doing so would be hypocrisy."

"Fine," Rose said. "Now that you two are done planning your mischief, can we please get back to the mystery? I looked broom curses up yesterday, right after we visited Sara, as you two know, and I found out some interesting stuff. It says one, _Adprobanda Genestae, _acts immediately, so that person would have been at the practice game if they used this curse. There's a second one, however, _Urna Serius, _which only starts working if the broom has been in the air over fifteen minutes."

"Meaning," Lily said, beginning to understand, "that someone could have cursed this broom before the game?"

"Exactly! Our culprit could be anyone. The Quidditch sheds are not hard to get into- certainly anyone who can perform either of these curses can get into the broom storage areas."

"So how on earth do you expect to find the person who did it, then?" Lily said. "I mean, it's not like we can go up to everybody and ask if they know what Ad-whatever or Urna-whatever does. Or if they snuck into the Quidditch shed lately." She looked pensive. "Veritaserum might work, but that's really difficult to make, I've heard, and has its flaws. Whoever did this is probably expecting Veritaserum. I think the only way to catch this person is to see if he or she strikes again."

Rose thumped her head down onto the table. "What if they succeed this time in killing somebody? What if…I don't know, what if they use the Killing Curse or something. There are no almost-murders with that, and don't say your dad, Lily, because that was extraordinary circumstances and you know that. This person's probably wised up."

"You both have a point. There's no way to track this person down, since we don't know what curse he or she used," Scorpius said.

"Maybe there is!" Lily jumped from her seat. "Rose, didn't Professor Goldstein inspect the broom, and that's how everybody knows it was cursed? Well, if we go ask him…he'd probably know."

"How are we supposed to ask him without him growing suspicious?"

Rose put her chin in her hand. "Say it's for extra credit, Lily. Aren't the fourth-years learning about curses?"

"Sort of."

Rose didn't inquire about the 'sort of', since that would lead into a long, Lily explanation that she really didn't feel like hearing. "You ask him, then. That'll work, right? Besides, he likes you."

"Mainly because I get every question right. Us Slytherins know a lot about curses, you know."

"I do know," Rose grumbled. "I still remember when you were in second year, I was in fourth, and you came up to me asking if I knew what the Unforgivable Curses were. What second-year knows that stuff?"

"Me," Lily said easily. "I've always been ahead for my age." She flipped her short red hair. "Back to the actual point. I'll ask tomorrow, I have DADA. I'll just stay after class, no biggie. I've been meaning to ask him about my essay, anyway."

"He doesn't give House points for extra credit," Rose said dryly.

"How on earth did you know that's what I meant?"

"Because you've been bragging about the extra foot you did for your essay, and how Goldstein is going to give you so many house points that Slytherin will be a shoo-in for the House Cup, despite the fact that it's still September. You weren't exactly subtle."

Lily stuck her tongue out at Rose. "Fine. But I promise I'll ask, and I'll find out. What are the two curses again?"

Rose shook her head. "You probably shouldn't know them. That would be suspicious. Just pretend that you don't know what he's talking about when he answers, because fourth-years do not know that sort of thing. Not even Slytherin fourth-years who sneak into the Restricted Section once in a while to check out interesting curses and counter-curses."

"I…how do you know about that?" Lily spluttered.

"You told Scorpius, and he told me."

"Scorpius Malfoy!"

"Calm down," Rose said before Lily could get out her wand. "I didn't tell on you or anything. Do you really think I'd do something like that?"

"No, but you'd tell me not to do it."

Scorpius held up his hands. "If you two are done talking about Lily's midnight wanderings, can you, Rose, help me on my Arithmancy? I have no clue why I signed up to take this course, it's bloody impossible." He groaned.

"Fine."

The two sixth-years settled down to work, and Lily wandered out to the Quidditch pitch. Nobody was practicing right now, and she walked around the field, looking for anything out of place. She doubted there was any clues, but, knowing Rose, it would be good to say that she had at least looked. She looked around and, seeing nobody nearby, pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of her bag and threw it over her before heading to the Quidditch shed.

It had been rebuilt after the Battle of Hogwarts, having been torn down in the ruckus. It was divided into four sections, one for each house, where the brooms and uniforms of that team were kept. She tapped her wand on the Hufflepuff door, muttering, "_Alohomora,"_ which easily opened it. She slipped inside, looking around. Nothing looked out of place- the robes were all neatly hung up next to the brooms, although in Sara's case, only her robe hung on the peg. She glanced down at the floor, not seeing anything else out of place either. "Damn it," she hissed. A clue would have been incredibly helpful right about now.

The door creaked open, and she stood extremely still as the Hufflepuff captain, her brother Albus, poked his head through. "Anybody here?" She didn't answer, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Huh," he muttered. "Could have sworn I shut this door the other day." He shrugged and closed it, having not noticed his sister, as she was under the ever-useful Invisibility Cloak. Technically, the Cloak wasn't hers- her father had kept that, as it was often handy for Auror duties, but she had taken it. The Marauder's Map wasn't hers either- that, too, had been stolen, this time from James, who had in turn stolen it from their father- but James had barely seen it was missing. He had never used it much, anyway, or not as much as Lily.

Lily crept over to the door and silently opened it, slipping out as soon as she could fit, closing it just as quietly. With the Cloak still on she ran, pulling it tight around her so it didn't fly off. Her average height came in handy once again, as her feet couldn't be seen when she had the cloak on, where with Scorpius it could, as he lifted it much higher. As soon as she was inside the castle and alone, she stuffed it back into her bag. Coming down the stairway was James.

"Why, hello, little sis," he said in what was probably the most friendly tone he had used in the past few years, probably because Scorpius wasn't there. "What are you doing?"

"Why are you so happy?" she asked suspiciously. He couldn't seem to wipe a large grin off his face, and he kept ruffling his hair in an extremely irritating fashion. "Did you finally get into your girlfriend's skirt?"

James glared at her. "That is none of your business. Anyway, I'm happy because I am Gryffindor's Quidditch team captain, and we are going to kick Slytherin's butt this year."

"That's what you have been saying for five years," Lily shot back, "and every time Slytherin's beaten you. Now, if you'll excuse me-" she hesitated barely a second before coming up with a plausible lie- "I have to go help Tori with Charms. I think she's failing."

"How do you fail Charms?" James wondered aloud, but Lily was already heading toward the Slytherin common room. She had nothing to do, yes, but it was better than standing there with James listening to his Quidditch talk, especially when that talk was bashing her team.

She didn't notice Molly, one of her numerous cousins, coming toward her. "Lily! I'm glad I caught you." Molly fidgeted with the Head Girl badge on her robes. "Your friend…Daisy, I believe her name was? She's in the hospital wing."

"What?" Lily nearly dropped her bag in surprise. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"They don't know," Molly said, dropping her voice to a whisper. "She fell off the Astronomy tower. Professor Clearwater managed to slow her body down, but it was still a long fall. She's alive…right now."

"Do they have any idea who did this?" Lily's heart was pounding frantically in her chest.

"The teachers…they think it was the same person who cursed Sara Creevey's broom. They believe that person has struck again."

A/N: Liking it so far? Any ways that I can improve?


	5. Chapter 5, Beware

Disclaimer: I want to own Harry Potter. But I don't.

Lily hurtled toward the library, not caring if there were any teachers around to yell at her for running, which, thankfully, there weren't. The librarian, Madam Lisa Turpin, gave her a disgruntled look as she barreled past, but she didn't stop to apologize. She reached the back table where Rose and Scorpius were sitting, books now absent. "There's been another attempted murder," she gasped, out of breath from her long run. She collapsed into a chair.

"Who?" Scorpius asked. "Anyone we know?"

"Daisy Zabini, you've met her a few times, both of you. The girl from my dorm."

"The one with the dark hair and tan-ish skin?" Rose tilted her head to one side. "Or the one with blonde hair? Or-"

"Dark hair," Lily interrupted before Rose could describe Mina. "Molly told me about it. She fell from the Astronomy Tower- luckily Professor Clearwater was walking the grounds and managed to slow her body down so the impact wasn't as great. She's in the hospital wing, now, but they don't know if she's going to be okay." Lily took a deep breath to calm herself. While she and Daisy were not as close as her and Tori, or her and Rose and Scorpius, they had been friends, or as close to friends as Slytherin girls got, anyway. "They think it's the same person."

"So she was pushed from the Astronomy Tower, then," Scorpius said. "That's worse than the cursed broom- anyone can push another person. Especially just a fourth-year girl. No offense, Lily."

Lily's lack of response showed how serious the situation was, as normally she would have hexed or smacked Scorpius for implying that fourteen-year-old girls were weak. Instead, Rose answered. "Exactly. Let's look at the similarities between the two attempted murders, then." She whipped out a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag. "Let's see. They're both girls."

"Both around fourteen," Lily added. "Two different houses, so that's probably random, then. A Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. Both attempted murders involved falling from a high place."

"What about their blood-statuses?" Scorpius asked. "That's what people were killed for, back in the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Blood was everything."

"Good point. I know Daisy was pure-blood, and really far back, too. No questions there. As far as Sara…" Lily hesitated. "Tori would probably know. It seems like she knows everyone's."

"No," Rose said quickly. "Let's not bring anyone else into this. Sara already knows, and Daisy will too when we go to visit her. That's definitely enough. I'll ask Sara myself, while Lily asks Professor Goldstein about the cursed broom."

"What do I have to do?" Scorpius asked.

"Try to come up with more similarities."

"Both after classes," Scorpius said after a few minutes, "but before curfew. Hey, Lily, you knew Daisy. Why would she have been up in the Astronomy Tower hours before Astronomy started?"

"She liked the view," Lily said absentmindedly. "She's an artist, and she likes different perspectives on things. She got permission from Professor Sinistra to go up there whenever she likes, as long as there are no other classes meeting or anything like that."

"And, probably, as long as there are no couples meeting or anything like that," Scorpius joked. Couples, mainly sixth- and seventh-years, generally went up to the Astronomy Tower for privacy, as the stairs were rather annoying and people rarely went up there if they didn't have to.

"Thank you, Scorpius, for that mental picture."

"You're welcome."

Lily ignored him. "Let's see. So far, on the list of similarities, we have, 'both are girls', 'both are around fourteen,' 'both involved falling from a high area,' and 'both were after classes got out but before curfew.'" She sighed. "Not extremely helpful evidence we have here."

"It's almost dinnertime," Scorpius said. "Come on, we should go."

The atmosphere at the Slytherin table was rather subdued. The news had spread about Daisy's fall, and that she was in much worse condition than Sara Creevey, having fallen from a higher location. Tori was absent, while Mina didn't look too good, with red eyes and disheveled hair. Daisy's on-again, off-again boyfriend Patrick Corner was staring at his plate, looking shell-shocked. Barely any conversation that wasn't Daisy-related occurred during the meal, at least at their table.

Mina and Lily headed back to the Slytherin common room together, discussing Daisy in quiet voices. "I'm going to see her tomorrow," Lily said. Whether Daisy was awake, and in any condition to discuss what had happened, was not definite, but she didn't care. Daisy was her friend, and it was important that she at least be able to say she visited, and tell the truth. Solving the mystery, which had now increased in difficulty, could wait until later. "I really hope she's okay."

"Agreed," Mina said. "I saw her fall- that was horrifying. I didn't even know who it was at first, until I went over and saw her."

"Did you see anybody up on the Astronomy Tower?" This could be an actual clue.

"Just a shadow," the other girl replied. "Absolutely no facial features or body type that I could make out. Professor Clearwater and the others already asked me."

"Well, I suppose it is hard to see anyone from that height," Lily said, trying to sound as if she wasn't disappointed, and wasn't trying to solve a mystery. "Did you go and visit her yet?"

"Yes. With Tori. Tori was so upset, she skipped supper. I think she's in the dormitory, crying. Or, well, somewhere. Crying." Mina muttered the password- _Serpensortia_- and they entered the Slytherins' common room, then headed to their dormitory. As expected, Tori was there, huddled under her blanket, not crying anymore but looking as if she had done so for a while.

"Hey," she said, her eyes still watery. She flopped back onto her pillow, wiping her eyes and cheeks with the edge of the blanket, which had a soaked look to it. "Sorry I missed dinner. I was feeling down about Daisy…I can't believe what happened to her. I figured the Creevey thing was a one-time incident."

"So did I," Mina said. "Now, this is really scary. If there's a wannabe killer on the loose…his next victim could be anyone."

"How do you know it's a him?" Lily said, more quickly than she intended.

"Most Dark people are men," Mina answered matter-of-factly. "I just imagined it was a bloke. Nobody knows for sure, but the odds are in the male favor."

"What about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Tori said, her voice slightly muffled by the blanket over her face. "She was a Death Eater."

"I said 'most'," Mina replied, "not all. Besides, everyone knows that woman was something else."

"Alright, alright," Lily said before they could start another argument. Tensions between Tori and Mina were generally high, as the latter was a half-blood. Lily, who was friends with both Tori and Mina, tended to stop fights before they happened. Daisy, who was quieter and followed Tori around, shut up whenever Tori did. "Come on. There's only three of us now, so we need to stick together. We need to show people that us Slytherins are not going to go hide just because one of us got hurt."

"Fine," both Tori and Mina grudgingly agreed.

Although Lily had planned to implement her prank the next day, she held off, as it seemed inappropriate due to the nature of the situation. Two people were now in the hospital wing, victims of the same person, if everyone's hunches were true, and the school was very subdued. Students had been advised to stay in groups of at least three, and everyone should walk to classes with others who shared that same class. Quidditch practices were overseen by Oliver Wood, the referee and flying instructor for the first-years, and nobody was allowed to wander the grounds alone.

After the last class of the day- Potions- let out, she slipped away from her classmates with the aid of the Invisibility Cloak and found Rose and Scorpius getting out of their last class, Herbology. She tapped them, cloak still on, which made them both jump and whirl around wildly to see what had happened. She allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk before stuffing the Cloak back in her bag. "Come on, you two," she said. "Time to visit Daisy."

"Why don't you go with Mina and Tori?" Rose asked.

"They already went, and Tori cried for two hours afterward. I'd rather not have her go through that again. Or have me listen to that," she added after being sure neither one of her roommates were around. "Let's go."

"She's probably still unconscious," Rose said, "and in no fit state to answer any questions about what happened to her."

"I know that," Lily said. "But she's my friend, and it's obligatory to go visit."

The three headed back to the hospital wing, and Madam Bones let them in, waving them through without a glance up from her paperwork. They went down to the other end, where Lily knew Daisy to be from Mina's description. When they reached the bed, all three gasped in surprise, leaping backwards almost at the same time.

Painted right on Daisy's bed sheet, in red paint that looked like blood, was the word, "BEWARE."

A/N: Yay! Another chapter done!


	6. Chapter 6, Motive

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this for every chapter? *le sigh* I. Don't. Own. Harry. Potter.

"This is not right," Lily said, pacing back in forth in front of the fireplace. It was a day after the trio had gone to visit Daisy and found the message, 'Beware,' on her bed sheet. "I mean, who could have done such a thing? Madam Bones sees whoever comes in."

"She sleeps at some point during the night," Scorpius replied. "Whoever it was probably sneaked in."

"The message was found by us in the afternoon, genius. Somebody would have seen Daisy before then. How could somebody get into the infirmary and do that, without being seen? The only way is a Cloak, but I know we have the only one in school."

"Listen," Scorpius said. "We can find this person. We just need a different perspective on things."

"You really are a genius!" Lily exclaimed. Scorpius looked baffled. "A different perspective! Who's more different than Luna Scamander? Let's go down there right now. We'll talk to her. Maybe she knows something about all this- she's a teacher, after all, and she's brilliant, but not a typical adult."

"What about the 'let's keep this quiet' mentality that we have?"

"Like Aunt Luna's going to tell anyone. She had her fair share of adventure during her school years, too. Plus, she likes me. She came over to visit us all the time. Come on, let's go."

"Do I have to? I've never even met her."

"You would have, if you actually came over to our house once in a while."

"I don't want James to know where I sleep." Scorpius made a face. "He'd hex me, and I don't fancy waking up with boils, or pink hair, or whatever he finds amusing that day."

Lily sighed. "We're discussing this later. You really should come home for Christmas break, but for now, we're going down to Aunt Luna's cottage. Sans Rose, I don't know where she is and I don't feel like scouring the castle looking for her. The fact that she's in Ravenclaw can be really annoying sometimes, you know that?"

"Yes," Scorpius said. "I'm stuck with you all the time- ow!" he shouted, rubbing his arm where Lily had jabbed him with her wand. "Fine, let's go. Before you hurt me further, you little-"

Before he could get the rest of his words out, Lily had begun heading out. He rushed to catch up with her, not wanting either of them to be wandering around alone. Nobody knew who the attempted killer's next target would be, or how that person would be harmed. Nobody wanted to be by themselves, not even the seventh-years. The message of 'Beware,' had been spread around, mainly to warn people that this was real, but perhaps, for some, it had been made a little too real, a little too scary.

They hurried down to Luna's cottage, occasionally checking the Marauder's Map to ensure that nobody was following them or nearby at all, as it wouldn't be good to be caught on the grounds as only two people. They reached the cottage with no difficulties, to their shared relief, and Lily knocked on the door. "It's me, Lily Luna," she said loudly, as she could hear somebody bustling around inside.

The door opened, and Luna Scamander looked out at them. Her soft blonde hair fell almost to her elbows in straggly waves, and her protuberant silver eyes looked mildly surprised upon the pair. "Hello, Lily. You're Scorpius Malfoy," she said to Scorpius, who was standing behind Lily in a rather awkward fashion. "I've heard a lot about you from all the Weasley children. Lily and Rose like your friendship, but James doesn't like any Slytherins. Or that's what he told me."

They sat down on rickety chairs as Luna made some tea. The cottage was bigger than Rubeus Hagrid's hut had been, and differently furnished, although this was in part because Luna's idea of decoration was rather different. She had painted it herself, it seemed, and it was full of odd designs and swirls that, in any other location, would have seemed odd and out of place. Lily looked over at Luna. "Do you know anything about what's going on?"

"I believe everyone does," Luna said, "although I suppose you are asking whether I know anything that other people do not. Are you trying to figure out who did this?"

Scorpius squirmed. "Sort of."

"I wonder how 'sort of'figuring out who did this' works," Luna said, looking as though she wanted to ponder on this for a while. "Or I suppose that you do not want to tell me, because you are afraid I might turn you in or tell you to stop it. It is rather dangerous, but I think having a person who wants to murder others on the loose is even more dangerous."

"So do you know anything that others don't?" Lily asked, before the woman could continue for a longer amount of time without giving any helpful information. "And are you going to let us keep solving this?"

"I am not going to tell the Headmistress on you," Luna said serenely, "I understand that sometimes students do things that the teachers should really not know about. I don't have any extra information for you, though." She collected their teacups and set them aside. "It's rather odd, though, how both students had family who were at Hogwarts during my time and the time of Harry Potter. Sara Creevey's father and Daisy Zabini's parents. That may have something to do with it. Perhaps this person did not like those people, and is getting revenge by trying to kill their children."

"She makes a good point," Scorpius said in a low voice after they had left. "This could be something about revenge. It's obviously not blood-status, since neither of them was Muggle-born. There's not a whole lot of motives to kill two students, when you think about it."

"That's true," Lily agreed. "It would make sense. Let's see. I know that Daisy's parents are Pansy and Blaise Zabini, who were Slytherins during their time. I don't know about Sara, though. Rose was going to ask her about that, when we considered blood-status as being one of the similarities. I believe she's half-blood."

"Maybe that's what Rose is doing," Scorpius said.

"I wish," Lily replied. "Look, there she is now- and she's alone. That's surprising, although she was probably looking for-"

"I was looking all over for you two!" Rose panted, dashing the last couple feet to Lily and Scorpius. "Sara's doing great, she's getting out of the hospital wing tonight. She's half-blood. She talked a little about her parents, but I figured that didn't really matter-"

"It does," Lily said. "We just went to see Aunt Luna, and she guessed that whoever it was, that person was getting revenge on the students' parents. Or, going along that idea myself, the students themselves, but the parents idea makes a tad more sense. What did she say about her parents?"

"Her mother is Aunt Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle. Her father's a Muggle-born who was a couple of years younger than our parents, Dennis Creevey. Apparently we didn't really know about them because they usually see Dennis Creevey's family on special days, and they're all Muggles, of course."

"Hmm," Scorpius mulled that over. "I suppose that somebody could be mad at these people, but why? If we could figure out why this person disliked Sara's and Daisy's parents, then we would be able to narrow down who the culprit is. Motive is extremely important."

"You sound like somebody out of these trashy Muggle novels my mother reads," Lily grumbled, "no matter how true it is. We should find out any similarities between these four parents, especially Mr. and Mrs. Zabini and Dennis Creevey. Gabrielle didn't go here, so it's highly unlikely that she's going to be part of this."

"How are we going to find out these similarities?" Scorpius asked. "It's not the sort of thing that would be in the library, and it's not like we can ask our parents."

"Yes we can," Rose countered. "I'll write my mother and tell her that we're studying the Second Wizarding War in History of Magic. We're due to start it right after Christmas break anyway, so she shouldn't be too suspicious. I'll tell her that I'm doing extra credit and that I want to look up specific people, and I'll name those three and ask for more information. And speaking of extra credit, Lily, did you ever talk to Professor Goldstein like you were supposed to the other day?"

"No, he ushered us out of class really fast. I promise I'll ask tomorrow, okay? I'll find some excuse to stay back. Or maybe I'll just get detention, it's last class of the day anyway and his detentions are always right after classes finish."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You keep track of what time detentions from specific professors are?"

"I don't keep track of it, I have it all memorized," Lily retorted. "Anyway, here's the plan. Rose, write Aunt Hermione tomorrow. I'll get detention, giving me an excuse to talk to Professor Goldstein. Scorpius…you're on Marauder's Map duty. Check it for anything odd."

"Why do I always get the boring assignments?" Scorpius grumbled.

A/N: Hope I got Luna somewhat correct. She's not an easy character to write for. Anyway, the next chapter should be a bit more interesting. Enjoy reading, fanfictioners!


	7. Chapter 7, This Can't Be Happening

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. Still wish I did.

Lily felt in her pocket as she entered Defense Against the Dark Arts, feeling a small round lump. Good. It meant the Skiving Snackbox, a Nosebleed Nougat, was still there. Originally, she had planned to involve the whole class on her first prank of the year, and get fifteen or so students to start showing various symptoms in Charms, but this had changed. She needed to talk to Professor Goldstein about which curse was used on Sara Creevey's broom, and this would be difficult to do if there was a cluster of other students also serving detention.

She waited until the lesson was about midway through before sticking the sweet in her mouth. It was very subtle- put hand in pocket, take out candy, rest chin on hand, swallow the candy- a method that she had learned from her Uncle George, who seemed thrilled that someone was carrying on the tradition of practical jokes that he and his dead twin had been infamous for during their time at Hogwarts.

She instantly felt a small trickle of blood start dripping from her nose, and waited a few seconds before raising her hand. "Professor Goldstein? I have a nosebleed."

"Stick the other end of the candy in your mouth, then, Miss Potter, and it should resolve itself. Detention."

She feigned disappointment as she swallowed the other half and wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe. It wasn't much of a prank, especially since she didn't even make it out of class, but it served its purpose of making her receive detention. Teddy Lupin, the assistant who was currently writing some of the major points of the professor's speech on the board, gave her a sympathetic look. She had grown up with him around, but around the same time that she went to Hogwarts, he got his own apartment and stopped coming to the various Weasley gatherings. It was nice to see him again, even though they had barely exchanged two words so far.

The rest of the class left right after their dismissal, but Lily remained in her desk, waiting for her detention instructions. She liked Professor Goldstein- he was fair, first of all, and never graded badly or favored any particular house, and his detentions were usually simple, something a person like her, constantly in detention, certainly appreciated. "Sir? What am I doing?" she asked after a few minutes of watching him sort through the piles of paper on his desk. Teddy was now erasing those same notations he had made.

"Oh, yes, of course." He looked up. "Nearly forgot you were there. Get a piece of parchment and a quill, just write out 'I will not make trouble in class' until it's filled. I don't have anything that I need you to do- the classroom is quite clean."

She followed his instructions, cheering inwardly at the easiness of this one. It didn't take long for her to finish- she could sense he was in a rather absentminded mood, and therefore had used one of her smaller pieces of parchment. She slid it onto his desk. "Can I ask you something?"

He stopped looking through the papers. "Of course. What is it?"

"I was wondering what happened to Sara's broom. I mean, everyone's saying it was cursed, but…I heard you checked it out, and I was curious about what actually happened." She put on her best innocent look, another thing she had perfected over the years.

"It was indeed cursed," he replied. "A very advanced curse, _Urna Serius, _that caused the broom to malfunction and try to throw its rider off once it had been up in the air for a set amount of time- fifteen minutes, maybe, or a half hour. This meant that whoever cursed the broom could have done so at anytime before the game, and wouldn't have needed to be present." The sound of something dropping caused him to stop talking. Teddy had dropped his wand. He had inherited his mother's clumsiness, something Lily's parents said numerous times. "Well, I suppose that's all that I know. That poor girl…"

"Thank you," Lily said politely. "Now I can set my roommate straight- she swears that a bludger hit Sara and that's what made her fall." She knew that Professor Goldstein would never check something like this, and it also made her I'm-just-curious story seem more accurate.

Thankfully, Rose and Scorpius were waiting outside the classroom for her, per the groups-of-three-or-more rule, and they set off for the library, their main discussion place. They found their special table in the back (they had carved their initials, LLP, RW, and SM, into it, but the teachers did not know this) and sat at the chairs. "It's _Urna Serius," _Lily said glumly. "Meaning it could be anyone whatsoever."

"This isn't going to work," Scorpius said. "We need more information- more proof, but how are we supposed to find something like that? We figure that it's a teacher, or at the least, a seventh-year, but there's no way to find out who did it without sneaking into every teacher's office and looking around, and we all know that's impossible."

Both Rose and Lily seemed to get the same idea, but it was Rose who spoke first. "It's not impossible to sneak into every teacher's office. We have the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak, what more would you need? We'll spread it out over a few nights…I might not be able to come, it would be difficult to meet up with you two somewhere, and risky."

"Alright," Lily said. "Scorpius and I will go. We can fit under the Cloak, and since we share a common room, we can sneak out together. It's doubtful that we'll find anything, anyway. Whoever it was would have covered his or her tracks extremely well, to do something like this. Look, even the teachers can't figure out who it is."

"Partially because one of the teachers is, most likely, the culprit," Scorpius replied. "That person is probably trying to throw the others off his or her tail. It's not like the wannabe killer would lead them in the right direction."

"When should you go?" Rose asked.

The sounds of a commotion reached their ears. From the noise level, Lily guessed it was taking place right outside the library. "I'm guessing tonight. From the sound of it, somebody else has been hurt."

The three rushed out to the hall in front of the library, where there was a crowd of people surrounding another. On second glance, they all were Weasleys- James, Molly, Albus, Hugo, Louis, and Lucy. Everyone was surrounding Molly, who was sobbing hysterically into her sister's shoulder. Scorpius hung back, feeling rather awkward, Lily and Rose, however, entered the fray. "What happened?" Rose shouted.

"It's Roxanne," Molly bawled. "She's- she's…"

"No," Lily gasped.

"No, she's not dead," James reassured his sister. Normally, he was arrogant and playful, but his facial expression and attitude now was grave and serious. "She's in the hospital wing. Unconscious. Nobody knows what happened to her, just that she didn't make it to any classes today, and then Madam Bones found her, sprawled across a bed as if somebody threw her down. The odd thing is, she doesn't have any visible injuries."

Lily buried her head in Rose's shoulder. Roxanne was Lily's favorite cousin, apart from Rose. Both girls had been the first to reassure her that, despite making it into Slytherin, she was still awesome to them, still their cousin, and nothing had changed. The others had been more reluctant to accept it (especially James, who hadn't completely, even now) but it had been Roxanne and Rose's doing that caused them to stop ignoring Lily and treat her the same way they had before.

"I have to go see her," Lily murmured in Rose's ear. "Come on, let's slip away."

Quietly, the girls detached themselves from the others. Molly's sobbing, which had increased in pitch seemingly because of something James, ever tactless, had said, provided a sad but useful cover causing nobody to notice when Lily and Rose disappeared down the corridor. Scorpius caught up with them, stuffing his hands in his pockets. It was obvious he didn't know what to do in the case of such a Weasley-centric crisis.

"Come on!" Rose said to Scorpius, who was lagging behind. "At this rate, we're not going to get there until next year. Will you please hurry up?" Normally it was Lily who was impatient, Lily who would make such an exaggeration, but she didn't seem in the state to say anything. She was staring straight ahead, striding along at such a pace that the two sixth-years, despite being taller, had to half-run to keep up.

They reached the hospital wing in what was probably record time coming from the library. Lily burst through, ignoring Madam Bones' call of, 'Wait!' and looked all around for her cousin as the others quickly explained to the woman what was going on. The wing was remarkably empty except for Daisy, and it was easy to locate Roxanne's bed, which hadn't been curtained off, presumably because of the number of Weasleys who would no doubt want to visit at any hours of the day (and, being family, would probably be allowed to).

She looked peaceful. Although James had described her position as sprawled, she had been moved, probably by Madam Bones, so that she rested face-up, her dark hair fanned around her face, a stark contrast against the pure white pillow. Her looks were different than the other Weasleys, courtesy of her mother, and her black hair and dark skin made her look exotic, beautiful. She was so still, not even a flutter of her eyelids or a twitch of her hands. It was worrying, but then, Roxanne had always slept like the dead.

Lily banished that word from her mind. Roxanne's chest was moving up and down steadily. It seemed as though she was just sleeping-was it possible she could be? Nobody knew exactly what had happened to her, just that she was found here. Could she have fallen asleep somewhere, and someone, thinking she was unconscious due to the wannabe killer, had brought her here? It was a logical conclusion, especially since Roxanne had once dozed off in the library, an odd place for a nap, but then, why had she missed all her classes? Roxanne was no well-behaved Head Girl like Molly or top of the class like Rose, but she would never skip a whole day like that.

A whole herd of teachers came rushing in at that point, and could be heard having a hurried meeting with Madam Bones in her office. From the looks and sounds of it, all the teachers were there. Nobody was paying attention to the three students anymore, and, in one movement, Lily grabbed the Invisibility Cloak from her bag, shoved the bag under Roxanne's bed, and threw the cloak over the three.

They sneaked as close as they could to the door. Both Scorpius and Rose were slightly hunched so as to not show their feet-more so in Scorpius' case- but they all were utterly silent, listening with interest to the babble of conversation.

"Well," Professor Goldstein was saying, "I was teaching classes all day, but Teddy was only there for the fourth-years, as I had a bunch of papers that I wanted him to look over. He would have been in his quarters or in the library for much of the day, maybe he saw something?"

Teddy, who Lily hadn't noticed come in, replied, "I wish I had, I would love to get my hands on the person who's doing this. Poor Roxanne-Daisy and Sara, as well, but Roxanne… I've known her since she was a baby." There was a tremor in his voice- was that nervousness, or just sadness, that Lily sensed in his tone.

There was some murmuring that sounded as if somebody was reassuring Teddy, and then Professor Sinistra, Astronomy teacher, said, "I do wonder why the victims are all children of people who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. For an extremely short time in Miss Zabini's parents' case, but all three children had at least one parent who was there. Odd, really."

There was more whispering that none of the trio could understand, and then Teddy said, "I haven't finished that paperwork I have. I really do have to go." He darted out, rather quickly in Lily's opinion. It was as if he didn't want to be there. Roxanne's incident must have really upset him. He was part of the Weasley family, if not in blood, in heart, and everyone had seen how hysterical Molly was. He probably wanted to go think and be emotional on his own- guys didn't like to show emotion, Lily knew that.

The teachers dispersed barely five minutes after that, without saying anything definite or useful that the trio could use to help uncover the culprit's identity, and Lily, Rose, and Scorpius headed back over to Roxanne, coming out from beneath the Cloak and stuffing it back into Lily's bag, where it had evidently taken up permanent residence. She never was without it, although for a joker like her, it certainly came in handy multiple times. She looked down at Roxanne then up at Scorpius. "Tonight," she whispered, so quietly he could barely hear the word. "We investigate tonight."

A/N: Poor Roxanne! What happened to her? Will she be all right?

Coming up in the next chapter: Lily and Scorpius' midnight wanderings


	8. Chapter 8, Late Night

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling will not sell me Harry Potter, no matter how many times I beg.

Lily reached under her bed and pulled out her trunk, casting nervous glances at Mina and Tori's beds. She was being as quiet as possible, but even so, it was still nerve-wracking to know that there was a chance one of them might wake up and see her, digging around in her trunk, at almost one o'clock in the morning. She had shoved the Marauder's Map in her suitcase the other day when she was nearly caught looking at it in her bed, but looking back, that was not such a bright idea. She clicked the lock open, wincing at the noise, and pulled it out, thanking nobody in particular that it was resting right on the top of the things she had not unpacked yet.

She closed the trunk, pushed it back under the bed, and threw the Cloak over herself, hugging the Map tightly to her chest. She came to the Slytherin common room, where Scorpius was waiting, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He jumped, but, having expected her to come within a minute of that time, thankfully kept quiet. He slipped under the Cloak with her and they went out of the common room, standing right outside the door.

Lily unfolded the map, tapping it with her wand and whispering the words, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She had never actually been told this, but had been eavesdropping the day that her father told James. The official map and the dots of every person within Hogwarts came into view, and she closely examined it. Everyone was in his or her dormitories or, in the teacher's case, quarters, except for Goyle, who was patrolling. Well. He would be simple enough to avoid, she thought.

They began walking, heading first to Potions teacher Morag MacDougal's office, as it was closest, being in the dungeons as well. Lily felt a bit guilty as they sneaked inside and began rifling through everything- she liked Professor MacDougal, and doubted she was the person they were trying to find, but still, they had to check everyone, liking the person be damned. There was nothing even remotely suspicious, just old test papers, most of which were all marked with a large O, and the ingredients that would not be kept in the classroom itself, the things that were not safe for the younger students to use. Lily, who was considered a 'younger student', peered curiously at the jars, but Scorpius yanked her away.

They headed up to Professor Finch-Fletchley's office, on a higher floor, but that, too, yielded no results, although several times Scorpius, who had no knowledge of Muggle things, had to check with Lily to make sure that something was innocuous. Lily, who also had two magical parents, knew more about the Muggle world as she had often played with the children down the road in her pre-Hogwarts years, and was able to recognize that no diagrams and lists were related in any way to hurting people.

They started to go to Professor Sinistra's office, but the presence of Goyle forced them to double back, and, as they were there anyway, they entered the shared office of Anthony Goldstein and Teddy Lupin. It was larger than the other two offices, and divided into two sections, one much larger than the other. The larger one, which was obviously Professor Goldstein's, was filled with any manner of things-Dark detectors, essays, books, paperwork, and some things that neither student knew the purpose of, but which looked harmless enough. It was actually rather interesting rifling through these things, as both were interested in the subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Scorpius, in fact, had to stop Lily from taking two large tomes on curses, counter-curses, hexes, and jinxes that could not be found in the library.

Lily pouted as he put them back. "Please, pretty please, let me take at least one," she whispered.

"No! You're going to get us caught," he said in an equally quiet tone. "He'd know someone had been in here." That, of course, was not completely true, as this side was so messy that, if the teacher noticed anything was gone or moved about, it would be a miracle. "Come on; let's check out Teddy Lupin's side."

Lily rolled her eyes as she followed Scorpius over. "He's like a member of my family. Harry Potter is his godfather. Do you really think that he's going to go around trying to kill people?"

"We have to go through every alternative," Scorpius insisted. "Just because you like somebody doesn't mean that they're perfect and not dangerous. I doubt it, too, but it doesn't hurt to check. It's not like he has loads of stuff over here."

Teddy Lupin's section of the office, as opposed to Professor Goldstein's, was immaculately clean. The only thing in this section was an office desk and a comfortable-looking chair that Lily immediately sat in as Scorpius began fidgeting with the drawers, all which seemed to be locked. "Did you seriously not bring your wand?" she hissed.

Scorpius had the decency to look embarrassed. "Devon woke up when I got out of bed, so I told him I was going to meet a girl, and everybody knows that you don't bring your wand…well…the magical type of wand…for that occasion."

Lily smacked him. "Thank you for that mental picture. I had the brains to bring my wand, so-" she lightly pushed him out of the way- "_Alohomora."_ She tapped on the drawer handle, and an audible click was heard as it unlocked. She opened it and ruffled around inside. It was empty, apart from a piece of parchment on which was scribbled the names of several books: _Magicke Most Evil, Dark Arts, Curses: A Guide to Dark Magic, _and _Spells You Won't Learn In School. _

Lily and Scorpius looked up from the paper at the same time, their eyes meeting one another. Lily rapidly opened the other two drawers. One had a long list of students, all half-bloods or purebloods, all whose parents, or at least one, had fought in the final battle. Three names had a checkmark next to them- Sara Creevey, Daisy Zabini, and Roxanne Weasley. The other had a long list of horrible things happening to people- curses Lily vaguely recognized as being Dark, or situations that would severely hurt or kill somebody. Three things were checked off- _Urna Serius, _Astronomy Tower, and _Crucio. _

"Why would the Cruciatus Curse be checked off-" Lily started to say, but stopped as she figured it out. "Roxanne, then." She was still finding it difficult to believe that Teddy Lupin, the boy that she had grown up with, who had been like a third older brother to her, could have done such a thing. She was forced to accept it, however, in light of the evidence. He had cursed Sara's broom, pushed Daisy off the Astronomy Tower, and tortured Roxanne until she blacked out. Simple as that.

"This…wow. Just…wow." Scorpius seemed to be unable to talk in complete sentences, which Lily completely understood, feeling a similar sentiment herself. "Should we take this, or what?"

"I think so," Lily whispered, suddenly realizing that talking too loudly could lead to them getting caught. "We'll show them to Professor Clearwater in the morning. She'll send him to Azkaban, and everything will be fine." She took the three pieces of paper and stuffed them in her pockets. "We should go, then. We found what we came for, and it just feels creepy now."

"Agreed," Scorpius replied, but before they could get back under the Cloak, the door slammed open.

"Well, well, well," the figure standing in the doorway said. "Just look what we have here."

A/N: oooh cliffhanger! Anyway, I know this chapter is rather short, but I think it's kind of necessary, because if I kept going this would be way too long. Which is also the reason why there's a cliffhanger. Please review, it would make my day.


	9. Chapter 9, Revelations and Long Speeches

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But then, you already knew that.

Lily stood in front of Scorpius, holding her wand at the ready, vaguely wondering what sort of spell could be used in a real duel. Scorpius didn't seem happy that his defender was a fourteen-year-old girl, but Lily had the wand, and so did not move behind him (as she probably would have were the situation reversed). The figure, who she still could not see clearly in the dark, also had his wand out, although less threateningly. "Who are you?"

He did not answer immediately, but cast a nonverbal spell that sent Lily's wand skittering across the floor toward him. She swore under her breath as he picked it up and stuffed it in his pocket. "Did you really think I'd let you keep it, little Lily? That wouldn't be good, would it? Especially not with your…prodigious skill." She was now torn between pride and anger and fear. "Now, separate from one another this instant, and your chances of living will be much better."

Slytherins were known for their sense of survival and self-preservation, and the two friends instantly scurried about five feet away from one another, although they continued to look at one another. They could barely see each other in the darkness, now that Lily's wand had been taken away and she could not produce a light, but it was a comfort to know the other was still there.

"Now, why don't we go someplace where we won't get caught? It wouldn't be good if anyone saw me with you two, of course." She still could not see who was talking, but she assumed, from the parchment that she had seen, that it was Teddy. "Why not…the Forbidden Forest?"

At that instant he stepped away from the doorframe, and both Lily and Scorpius headed for it, sprinting, but the figure was faster. He caught Lily, who was slightly slower, and held his wand to her throat. Scorpius' hesitation, despite his friend's gesture to get out, cost him. A Body-Bind was placed on him, and he fell backwards to the floor. Lily, who was struggling frantically in the man's arms, met the same fate.

She could still see, although she was completely still. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, the figure take both the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map and hide them in one of his desk drawers, muttering a quick, "_Lumos" _to do so. It was then that she saw his identity. It was Teddy, and, she noted, he looked rather pleased with himself. With another quick spell- _Accio Parchment_ this time- the three sheets of parchment that Lily had taken flew out of her pockets and into his hands.

It was a bit of trouble for him to bring both Lily and Scorpius out of the castle. He was dragging Scorpius and levitating Lily, which she couldn't help but notice would have actually been rather fun if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation. They passed Luna's cottage, nearly brushing it as Teddy walked by, but her lights were off and there was no movement from inside. She must have been sleeping. Everyone was. There was no hope for them.

Teddy- it didn't seem right to be calling him that when he was planning to kill her- brought them extremely far, farther than Lily had ever been in before. She had ventured in several times- three times for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson, one to collect something for Herbology, two for detention, and another two because she wanted to wander around alone- but all of those times she had been reasonably close to the edge, probably not even a mile in. Now, it was definitely over a mile- far enough where any noise, no doubt, would not be heard. He stopped at a small clearing and set them both down on the ground.

He paused a moment, thinking, and then shook his head, propping each student against a different tree. With two waves of his wand, they were freed from the spell, but just as quickly, ropes appeared around them and tied them to that tree. Both pushed against the ropes, but to no avail- they had been tied tightly, and without a wand, there was nothing either one could do. Lily glared fiercely at Teddy. "Before…" She couldn't bring herself to say the words 'you kill us' "will you at least tell us why? Please?"

"I suppose that's harmless," he replied. "The reason I am killing you two is because you found out. You meddled with something that was none of your business. The reason for the others, however, was simple. My parents died at the Battle of Hogwarts. I never knew them. Their murderers- I cannot get revenge on them. Dolohov is in Azkaban, and Lestrange is rotting in a grave somewhere. No, the easiest thing to do is get revenge on those who lived while my parents died.

"I knew that killing or assaulting the actual survivors of the Battle of Hogwarts would be difficult. All of them are older than me, talented at magic in most of their cases, often with protective charms over their homes in case somebody tries to break in for that very reason. But then the idea came to me- Hogwarts. Children, who would never be able to defend against me. People I loved were taken from me at the Battle of Hogwarts. It is even more fitting that I take away people that these survivors loved."

"Teddy-" Lily pleaded. "We're all innocents, all of us children of the survivors. We never did a thing to you, or to your parents, and even though your parents died, it was nobody's fault but Dolohov's and Lestrange's. Nobody else."

He completely ignored her, continuing with his monologue. "I meant to kill Sara Creevey. I meant to kill Daisy Zabini. But then, with Roxanne, I decided that her still being alive would be even more horrible for her parents. I used the Cruciatus Curse on her multiple times, but she fell unconscious and I could not wake her up. I'm very curious as to what she'll be like…whether she'll still be sane. I certainly hope not, it would rather defeat the purpose. I thought that if she was alive, but unable to recognize anyone, unable to do even the simplest of tasks…that would be even worse for those who knew her. I got the idea from Professor Longbottom, of course.

"His parents suffered that fate- which I assume you already knew. That's supposed to be rather secret, but naturally, the whole school knows about it. But enough about them- I'd rather kill you and get it over with. Dump your bodies somewhere, where they'll never be found. It'll be assumed that…perhaps you went looking for the killer and found him. Or maybe you ran away…a Potter and a Malfoy, it's believable, after you both making it into Slytherin. I saw your family's reactions, Lily Luna. They'd never approve of you and Scorpius; it would be a rather heartbreaking end for you to run away together. Maybe that's the story I'll plant. Like Romeo and Juliet, they met their tragic end." He raised his wand. "Goodbye."

"Wait!" Lily said. It wasn't that she had anything to say, exactly, but that she hoped to prolong it as long as possible. Teddy had rambled on for a while, so could she. She had been excessively chatty when she was younger, although she had forced herself to curb the habit after she entered Hogwarts. Maybe she could pick it up again. "Can I have some last words?" Before he even expressed consent, she started talking. "Life…life is short. Life is long. People's opinions differ on that. But one thing everyone can agree on is that life is unpredictable. You never know just what is going to happen, and that's why it's so exciting.

"I wasn't expecting, when I got to Hogwarts, to make it into Slytherin. Not after the stories I heard from everyone. It was a surprise, yes, but I don't regret it. I don't regret anything I've done, because there's no time to focus on the past. There's no time to look back on what happened and mope about it." She was now adapting the words from the 20-year memorial for those dead at the Battle of Hogwarts, with a couple changes to fit her. "What's done is done. I won't regret my life's decisions, because it doesn't matter. None of it matters, because it all ends here. Right now." She looked up at Teddy, a pleading look on her face.

"I have something to say as well," Scorpius said, his eyes looking past Teddy. Lily saw moving figures, heading toward the clearing in which they were. Please, she begged, just another minute. "Lily's right. Life is short. Life is long. It's both, really, when you look at it from a different perspective. In the grand scheme of things, life is short." The figures were getting closer. "What are a hundred, a hundred fifty years when civilization has been around for thousands and thousands? But then, a hundred fifty seems so long when you're sixteen and about to die. And I just wanted to say…"

Scorpius glanced at Lily just as the figures burst into the clearing. "Your plan failed. Ha ha."

Teddy whirled around. All the Hogwarts teachers were there, wands pointing at him. He glanced back at the two students, who both had equal looks of surprise and great relief on their faces. The teachers were led by Luna and Rose, who were both in regular clothing, as opposed to the other teachers in their nightclothes. Luna disarmed Teddy, causing both his and Lily's wand to fly over to her, and Professor MacDougal Stunned him so powerfully that he was thrown backward into a tree and did not get up.

Rose ran over to first Lily, then Scorpius, cutting through their ropes with a murmured, "_Diffindo._" They stumbled forward. "Are you two alright?" she whispered, looking over at Teddy. "Oh Merlin, it was Teddy?"

"Yeah. He wanted revenge because his parents were killed," Scorpius explained. "Lily got him to go on and on with his long spiel, and then both of us started giving last words, these long, elaborate speeches about life. Mine was from my grandfather's funeral, and Lily's…"

"The 20-year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts memorial service," Lily explained. "Some of it just stuck with me, I guess. Came in handy, though. How did you find us?"

"It scared me, you two wandering around in the middle of the night like that," Rose admitted. "So I told Aunt Luna earlier, right after dinner. She saw people going into the Forbidden Forest, knew it was the wannabe killer, probably with you two, and then came and got everybody else. I insisted on coming. I had been hiding in Aunt Luna's cottage."

Everybody trooped back up to Hogwarts. Teddy Lupin had been tied up, and was being levitated in the same way that Lily had been. Professor Clearwater was at the very front, the three students directly behind her. "You three, up to my office," the Headmistress said. "We need to go over a few things."

A/N: 'That's supposed to be rather secret, so naturally the whole school knows about it' is from the movie adaptation of Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, although the context is different. Just thought I'd use that in there, I've always loved that quote. Anyway, this is getting near the end, probably only a couple more chapters left.


	10. Chapter 10, Unbelievable

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Harry. Potter.

Lily, Scorpius, and Rose sat across from Professor Clearwater, who was looking rather stern and McGonagall-esque. She brushed a strand of her hair back and placed her hands flat on the table. "I want the whole story of how you ended up in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, about five seconds from your death when we showed up. Probably breaking about fifty school rules along the way," she muttered.

Both Lily and Scorpius looked at Rose, who scooted her chair slightly forward. "We decided after Sara Creevey fell that this wasn't an accident, so we started poking around for clues. I looked up broom curses, and found all of them are way above N.E.W.T. level, so we assumed it was an adult. We didn't find out a whole lot until after Roxanne showed up in the hospital wing- that's when Lily and Scorpius said they would sneak out after hours and look in all the teachers' offices."

"That night," Lily said, "Scorpius and I sneaked out and started…well, trespassing into teachers' offices and looking for things. Then in Teddy Lupin's drawer we found these three suspicious papers- I'll show you them." She had to get in there quickly- the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak were still in the desk drawer, two items which would definitely be confiscated if their existence was known. "He found us, then, and brought us to the Forbidden Forest, explaining everything. He wanted to get revenge since his parents had died in the Battle Of Hogwarts. Then we stalled him by making elaborate last-words we're-about-to-die speeches. Then all the teachers showed up."

"I had been nervous," Rose said. "Them sneaking around after curfew with a wannabe killer on the loose was dangerous, so I told Aunt Luna- she's not really my aunt, Professor, but a close family friend- and she and I hid out in her cottage and waited for any sign of trouble. We both expected, if there was trouble, that it would happen outside, because sound reverberates a lot inside, and the portraits would all put up a fuss. We saw three figures heading into the forest. I followed at an extreme distance while Aunt Luna went and got the other teachers. Then I came back to the edge and showed everyone the way to the clearing."

"What all three of you did was extremely dangerous," Professor Clearwater said. "You broke numerous school rules- being out after curfew, snooping around a teacher's office, looking in the Restricted Section, Miss Weasley."

Rose looked slightly embarrassed. "How did you know about that?"

"Books on curses are not exactly going to be in the regular section of the library, are they? Anyway, you all should be in heaps of trouble for what you did, except for the fact that you discovered something that us adults could not figure out. Of course, we would never have thought to snoop in each other's offices, especially based on no proof whatsoever, but you did discover the person who was behind these attacks." She seemed to be conflicted between yelling at them for breaking rules, and congratulating them for solving the mystery.

"So what happens?" Lily, always impatient, said after a minute or so of absolute quiet. Rose elbowed her, no doubt worried that Lily's lack of sense would get them in even more trouble.

Professor Clearwater, however, did not seem to care about that. "You all have two months' detention," she said firmly, "with your Heads of Houses. Frankly, I'd love to separate the three of you, but I have a feeling that wouldn't exactly work out too well. However, since you did do a great thing for the school and its inhabitants, I would like to award all three of you with Special Awards for Services to the School."

"No way!" Lily jumped out of her seat. "Is it a big ceremony? In front of all the students and teachers? Should we wear dress robes? Do-"

"Sit down, Miss Potter. It will be a ceremony, yes, but I would advise you to calm down beforehand, as the heads of all three of you will likely inflate with all the praise you will get from your fellow students afterwards. I will present you three with the awards at dinner tomorrow, so please be presentable. Oh yes, and as for House points…I feel that the detentions are punishment enough for the rule-breaking, so I would like to award each of you with fifty points to your house. So…that would be one hundred points for Slytherin, and fifty for Ravenclaw."

Lily, who got points deducted more often than added, bounced a little in her seat. "Is that it, then?"

"Yes, Miss Potter, that is it." Professor Clearwater looked tired. "All three of you, go straight back to your dorms and rest for the remainder of the night, if there is any night left, and no detours. I will be seeing you tomorrow."

Scorpius and Rose hurried out the door, but Lily hung back. "Is Teddy going to Azkaban?" She looked smaller, it seemed, and certainly less happy than the Lily who had bounced up and down in her chair just a minute or two before. "And is Roxanne going to be okay?"

"Mr. Lupin will certainly be going to Azkaban," the Headmistress replied, "as he tried to kill two students, used the Cruciatus Curse on another, and was going to kill two more. Miss Weasley should be alright. I don't believe she was under the curse long enough to suffer permanent damage, although she will presumably remain in the Hospital Wing for observation."

"Can I go see her?"

"Tomorrow. For now, you definitely need your rest."

Lily wasn't tired, even though it was a ridiculous time in the morning, and she had just been through a lot. It was these things that she had just been through that were keeping her up as she trudged back to the Slytherin common room, then to her dormitory, collapsing back into bed. Teddy Lupin, secretly holding a grudge because his parents had died when so many had survived. It hadn't been expected. She knew he mourned them, yes, and that he often felt left out at Weasley family gatherings since he wasn't blood-related, but she hadn't known he was bitter and resentful about it.

He had been a fixture in her pre-Hogwarts life. He was the main babysitter of Lily, Albus, and James, since he was constantly at their house anyway. It had always seemed like he enjoyed Lily the most- Albus was too quiet, James too loud and, often, tactless. She couldn't connect in her head that Teddy to the one she had seen tonight, who was ready to kill her. How was that even possible? She had loved him as her third older brother, the person to go to when she wanted to talk, because James would never want to and Albus, being only two years older, wasn't much of a comfort.

She wondered how her parents would take the news. Harry was Teddy's godfather, and had become like a real father to him, taking him on as a son before he had children of his own. Ginny had mothered him in the same way. They had seen him as their child, in many ways, and although he didn't officially live there, he spent almost half the time there and half the time at his grandmother Andromeda's.

Lily inhaled sharply at the thought of Andromeda. She had nobody, really. The war had taken her sister, her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law from her, leaving only Teddy as comfort. Teddy hadn't lived there for a few years, having moved into his own flat the same time she went to Hogwarts for first year, but he would still often pop by. Now Teddy, too, was being taken from Andromeda, and although, unlike the others, he was still alive, having a family member in Azkaban was almost as bad as having that family member dead.

Lily sighed and turned over, eventually drifting into the peaceful blackness of sleep.

A/N: Kind of a short chapter, but then, we are nearing the end. Thank you to everyone who's kept reading my first (but certainly not last) delve into the crazy, wonderful realm of fan fiction, and thank you to those people who have given me lovely reviews.


	11. Chapter 11, The End

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, any of its characters, any of the situations, any of the settings, etc. The only thing I own is my OC's.

Lily ran a brush through her hair, tilting her head as if it would allow her to look at herself in the mirror more efficiently. She rarely dolled herself up all fancy like this, preferring to leave that to Tori and Daisy, but at this time, it was certainly important. She and her two friends were receiving Special Awards for Services to the School for the work they had done in capturing Teddy Lupin, an old family friend- turned attempted murderer who wanted revenge for his parents' deaths. It was all slightly surreal.

She adjusted her hair one last time and went out to the Slytherin common room, still fussing with the slightly-too-tight silver dress robes that she had originally bought in case there was some sort of school dance. She had added a bit of green trim to the sleeves, neckline, and hem to accentuate her House pride (so many people were still in awe that Harry Potter's daughter had made it into his rival house), and in her opinion, it looked quite good.

Scorpius was waiting for her, wearing black dress robes with the same green trim (she couldn't help but wonder how he had managed that, seeing as his dorm-mates wouldn't have helped him with it like hers did), and looking rather uncomfortable with the particular clothes. "Don't like to dress up, huh?" she couldn't help but jibe as they went down to the feast, waving to Rose at the Ravenclaw table who was wearing beautiful dark blue dress robes.

"You got it," he muttered back as they sat down. Tori was across from them, looking more happy than ever. She had been depressed since Daisy's fall, but now was rather upbeat and pleased. "What's happened to you?" he asked her.

"Daisy's up," she said excitedly. "Weak, but she's up, and now Madam Bones is sure that she's going to be okay. The other girl- your cousin, Lily- is up too."

"Roxanne's up?" It took all of Lily's strength not to go racing out of the Great Hall to go visit Roxanne. "Is she alright?"

"I think. It's not like I was talking to her or anything, but I saw her eyes open and she took a sip of water. Anyway, what's happened to you two? Going on a date or something?"

"No," Lily said, rolling her eyes at her friend. "You'll see. Let's just say it's rather exciting."

Tori jiggled in her seat. "Now you've got me excited. Please tell me. Please, we're friends, aren't we? Come on-"

She was cut off by Professor Clearwater standing up. "I'm sure you all know about the recent attacks that have terrified students- Sara Creevey, Daisy Zabini, and Roxanne Weasley. Well, we have caught the culprit, who turned out to be Defense Against the Dark Arts assistant Teddy Lupin. However, it was not us teachers who discovered this. It was three students. Will Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy, and Lily Luna Potter please come forward?" They strolled up and stood facing the crowd of students, all who looked rather surprised. "These three students found out that it was Teddy Lupin who attacked those three girls. Because of this, I would like to present them each with a Special Award for Services to the School."

Goyle came out from the side, carrying three rather large trophies, and handed one to each student. They held them up, amid loud cheers from the crowd, especially the Slytherin table, the Ravenclaw table, and the various Weasleys. The cheering would have gone on if it weren't for Professor Clearwater gesturing to quiet down, causing Lily, Rose, and Scorpius to lower the trophies to a more respectable level. "These three, despite putting themselves in danger and breaking numerous school rules, have done a great service to this school. They should be proud of themselves."

After the feast, of course, and even during, it seemed as though everybody wanted to talk to the three. It lasted so long that all the teachers, apart from Professor Clearwater, retreated to their quarters or offices rather than wait for the students to leave, which was the custom. James and his girlfriend Caitlyn, a blonde, attractive sixth-year from Gryffindor, were some of the last people to come up to Lily.

"Wow," James said, whistling. "Never would of thought, two Slytherins could actually do something good." He turned to Caitlyn. "That's my little sister, you know. My family's just brimming with famous people who can totally kick bad guys' arses."

Lily couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If you don't stop calling me little, I'm going to kick your arse."

"Okay, okay, don't want to offend the famous Savior of Hogwarts. Or should I call you the Savior of the Wizarding World, Part Two? Or the Girl Who Lived? Or-"

"Leave." Lily said good-naturedly, lightly shoving James' chest. "I got lots of people who want to talk to me."

"Leaving."

Lily grinned at her brother's retreating back. She was loving the attention, as would any teenager, especially one who had previously only received attention for being the daughter of the Chosen One, the daughter of the Chosen One who had made it into Slytherin, or the girl who got in trouble more often than anyone else. The last people in the crowd dissipated, and she went over to Rose and Scorpius. "Wow. It's hard to believe, still, don't you think?"

"Absolutely," Rose said. "Look, we made a name for ourselves- and not the name 'Bane of Every Teacher's Existence,' either. We actually did something that helped the school. I'm kind of proud of us, aren't you?"

"Definitely," Scorpius said, poking his chest out and strutting around the girls. "It's going to be so easy to get girls from now on. Everybody loves a hero."

"Is that all you can think about?" Lily teased as they made their way down to the hospital wing.

"Yeah."

"Boys." Rose rolled her eyes. "Anyway, things are going to be pretty interesting from now on. We should do this more often."

"What, solve mysteries? It's not like there's loads of stuff happening."

"Look at our parents' time at Hogwarts, and the times before them. There's always things going on in the magical world," Rose replied. "We should…sniff them out. You know, Scorpius, everybody loves a hero, especially one who's saved them multiple times."

"I promise," Lily said, "that if something else comes up- if, mind you- we'll do something about it. There's no way that a Potter, a Weasley, and a Malfoy are going to sit back and let somebody else steal all the glory. Deal?"

"Deal," the other two replied.

Lily walked a couple feet ahead of them and pushed open the door to the infirmary, waving at Madam Bones. Rose was right, she thought as she dashed over to Roxanne. Things were going to get a whole lot more interesting around here.

THE END.

A/N: I finished! Wow. That was actually really fun to write, and I think I left the possibility open for a sequel, if I ever get around to it. I have a lot of other ideas that I would rather work on right now, but you never know. Anyway, since this is the last chapter, this is now complete, and will not be updated anymore. I would like to thank everyone who read this, and lots of love to the great J.K. Rowling who made this project possible. Please review and tell me what you thought.


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